234 resources that provide the enablement that frees customer and marketfacing leaders to drive revenue and growth, which are more value enhancing. The opportunity is often missed because of the excessive risk management focus. This may make it a lot easier for executives to embrace managing risk. Finally, what is also important is the leadership tone, and the mindset which leadership brings to managing risk. Your attitude towards managing risk will set the tone for how your organisation responds. Practical tools A very simple way of looking at risks, is thinking about a simple quadrant with probability on one axis and likelihood on another. Then plot controllable risks against the two axes and address those with the highest impact in the top right hand quadrant. In addition, ensure that the organisation is clear on what appropriate risk responses could be. Risk response steps could include, accept, reduce, avoid, or transfer externally. This is addressed more fully in the next question.
235 Part 12: Managing risk and opportunity Question 12.2 ARE YOU CONFIDENT THAT THE RISK MITIGATION IS ACTIONABLE? Key message There is a substantial difference between risk mitigation that works effectively and risk mitigation which is superficial. The difference lies in how organisations have approached the design of risk mitigation. Mitigation which is effective has been stress tested, is relevant to the circumstances and is intuitively actionable. The essence of effective risk mitigation is that when the risk manifests itself, everyone is clear on what actions they need to take to minimise the impact of the risk event. Key action phrase Ensure that risk mitigations are stress tested, relevant and actionable. ⚠ Warning signals • When a risk materialises, the organisation scrambles to find solutions • Typically risk mitigation steps are found deficient when put to the test • Risks often hit your business in a disruptive way • Risk management is frowned upon, as it supposedly holds back business Observations I have no doubt that everyone can relate to a situation when a risk event took place, and the organisation went into a wild panic, trying to figure out what to do. What’s even more interesting is the myriad of excuses that surface, to justify or support the fact that the risk mitigation failed. Assuming that the risk cannot be transferred, then risk mitigation entails three steps: stress test the mitigation, ensure the response is relevant to the context and ensure that the risk is actionable.
236 An interesting way in which organisations stress test risk mitigation, is to conduct “war games” in which they simulate a risk event, and then stress test if the envisaged mitigation works or does not. By simulating an event, leaders can assess how robust the response is, and where gaps could be filled. It can also be useful to have someone act as an impartial referee to test if the mitigation would de-risk the situation or whether the action is superficial. Next, it is also vital to see that the response is relevant to the circumstance or context, in other words, is it practical or realistic. In a crisis, there is no point in having a lengthy mitigation that takes days to activate, when the crisis requires immediate action within minutes. Finally, the mitigation must be actionable, which implies clarity on what steps to take, who will take it, when, and how. Linked to this, the mitigation plan must be readily available, not stored somewhere on a server where it cannot be found. As a leader thinks through the actionability of the mitigation, they should consider whether the response is intuitive or overly complicated. The last thing you need when responding to a risk that materialises is for teams to be debating what was meant by the specific action or steps. I do not think many organisations were prepared for what Covid did in 2020 to the office work environment. Forced national lock-downs left many people scrambling to respond. For many organisations this disrupted their business for months, whereas for others they were quickly able to adapt and move on. Therein lies a key point, when a risk materialises, is your organisation paralysed or are you able to respond and move on rapidly. Practical tools In terms of risk mitigation, develop role play exercises, which get teams together with different roles and perspectives and simply run through key risk mitigations and ask if they are relevant, appropriate to the risk and actionable. Based on the above-mentioned role play, enhance, or strengthen the mitigation.
237 Part 12: Managing risk and opportunity Question 12.3 ARE YOU PREPARED FOR A CRISIS AND ABLE TO CREATE OPPORTUNITIES FROM IT? Key message Every organisation will face a crisis, and it is likely that crises will become more frequent as we enter an increasingly disruptive and complex world. It is imperative on leaders to develop a crisis response plan where everyone knows exactly what to do and how to respond. Whilst the immediate response is a critical moment that matters, what is far more fundamental, is how leaders guide the organisation beyond the immediate crisis and articulate the building blocks that allow the organisation to improve and even flourish post the crisis. Amid a crisis it is easy to neglect the opportunities that the crisis can create. Leaders that can change the lens on risk and ask profound questions could well create a new business opportunity, reduce cost, or improve margins. Key action phrase Develop a crisis response plan that can minimise the impact of a negative event but also be deliberate in creating a mindset that seeks the opportunities created by the risks or crisis. ⚠ Warning signals • The organisation struggles in times of crisis • Leaders are slow to respond in a crisis • Every crisis sets the business back substantially • The brand and reputation take a knock after a crisis
238 • Nobody thinks about the opportunities that the crisis can create • The organisation has never innovated because of a crisis Observations We have all observed how organisations respond during a crisis, either commendably or so poorly that we wonder whether the leadership were present at all. A crisis will often test how good your organisation is at managing risk. The last thing you want in a crisis is to panic while someone figures out where the plan was filed, or even if it exists at all. Leaders need to ensure that they have a crisis response plan that can be instantly activated to minimise the impact of a negative event. This means not only a well-articulated response plan but also clarity on who does what, when and how in the event of a crisis. The ability to be proactive, take control of the situation and own the story is fundamental to a successful response plan. I want to stress the point on owning the narrative. Either own it or let others decide how the story is told. You have a choice after all. Owning the narrative is particularly pertinent in a visible and real-time social media world. Leaders should spend time finding ways to improve their business and strengthen the organisational muscle, so that the impacts can be minimised in future. Great leaders will go beyond and think about how they can take advantage of the crisis and find new business or growth opportunities. A crisis or a risk presents an opportunity of flipping a crisis on its head and seeking business opportunities or how the organisation can capitalise on the risk to create competitive advantage. This has the potential to either create opportunity for margin improvement or potentially even a new solution or business spin-off. Using the pandemic, think about how many virtual businesses either started or flourished as they adapted to the risk and started entirely new businesses. Some of the most obvious were virtual tools and on-line/ delivery businesses, which served you when you were in lock-down, and chemicals companies that made sanitizers. The essential message here is that for every risk or circumstance, there is a world of possibility when you change the lens. What world
239 Part 12: Managing risk and opportunity of opportunity exists for your organisation? Innovative organisations consider delegating opportunity management to a senior leader, despite the crisis. Their role is to step past the immediate crisis and find value opportunities. Finally, many leaders and organisations are often caught off-guard in a crisis, allowing the crisis to dictate where decisions are made. I always say, never waste a good crisis. Great leaders anticipate a crisis, and when it does, take action that improves the organisation for the future. Leadership and organisational resilience are a muscle which can be worked on, and then leveraged when needed. Practical tools Working with leaders during a crisis, I often observe how they want to implement knee-jerk solutions. My practical advice is never making a long-term decision amidst a short-term crisis. These knee-jerk reactions often have a way of unravelling and in fact destroying value and credibility. Conducting simulated discussions on risks and opportunities can often create insights that would not otherwise surface. De Bono’s Six Thinking Hats is a useful tool for such simulated art of the possible discussions. Allocate team members to thinking through risk and seeing what opportunities can be created. Whilst decisiveness in a crisis is essential, long-term impacts must be considered. Some questions to ask: • What are the essential facts? • What really matters? • What decision is required? • What is the risk of the decision and possible unintended consequences? • What is the risk of not making a decision? • What is the long-term impact? • With hindsight, would the decision be intuitive and rational?
240 Question 12.4 DO YOU HAVE A MINDSET OF MANAGING CONTROLLABLE RISK TO ZERO? Key message In any organisation risk has a cost, and while some shrug their shoulders, leaders in successful organisations embrace risk as an opportunity to reduce costs and improve profitability. The fundamental difference is the mindset encouraged by leadership. Obviously, this does not apply to all risks, but should be considered for those risks which have a high probability and if it happens will have a high impact. In this case, it is worth focusing on this as a margin enhancing opportunity. Key action phrase Encourage a mindset that manages risks to zero, where viable to do so. ⚠ Warning signals • You allow risks to manifest, and grudgingly accept the costs. • Your organisation accepts that bad things cost you money. • Your organisation only practices risk management. Observations Many businesses budget for risk to happen, whether in their businesses or projects. Leaders in these businesses see it as a cost of doing business, and often determine that it is not worth their while to fight it. My view is that it comes down to mindset towards the risk. Using an example of a capital project, organisations often allow for risk or contingency of say
241 Part 12: Managing risk and opportunity five percent. Many organisations will simply ignore it and intimate that they knew it was coming and so take little action to avoid it. Let us pause on that for a moment. How often can you save five percent of the cost of a capital project? How difficult is it to target a five percent margin improvement? Taking that a step further, imagine the value of all projects if a five percent risk could be avoided? Leaders therefore have an opportunity to view controllable risks with a new lens, that is a mindset that the risk allowable is a value opportunity. I have seen this in many project-type businesses, where being proactive on managing risk, has yielded substantial margin uplift. This thinking can even be applied to any other controllable risks. If a risk will cost you five percent, then it may well be worth spending one percent to reduce the risk and bank the difference. It could be the difference between a failed business or a sustainable business. My experience is that if a risk allowable in project related businesses and in capital projects is not managed effectively, then as the risks materialise, the negative value impact tends to increase significantly, and often the final cost is substantially greater than the initial contingency. Therefore, being deliberate in creating a mindset that managing risk is a proactive management function rather than reactionary control task, can make all the difference. This mindset could also have other positive spin-offs. Practical tools The next time you have a project or similar event which has a risk or related contingency, allocate dedicated resources to managing the risk to zero. Do not be scared to spend a little to save a lot.
242 Question 12.5 DO YOUR LESSONS TRANSLATE INTO IMPROVED EXECUTION? Key message We all know that a lesson does not become a lesson learned until it changes behaviours, processes, and improves execution, on a sustainable basis. It is fascinating how organisations can repeat mistakes multiple times and remain hopeful that it will not happen again. Again, changing behaviours, actions, processes, and systems requires deliberate action from leaders. Conducting lessons learned reviews or post project or after event reviews is good practise. Truly learning from mistakes is a value driver. Key action phrase Drive lessons learned processes that lead to sustainable changed behaviours and actions. ⚠ Warning signals • Your organisation repeatedly makes the same mistakes • Lessons learned exercises are performed, but nothing is done about it • Post project reviews focus mainly on who to blame • Individuals disregard previous lessons because they know better • Mistakes or errors have led to disastrous financial results Observations Most organisations have some or other form of lessons learned process within their business. These processes also go by different names: lessons
243 Part 12: Managing risk and opportunity learned, project reviews, after event forums or documented findings. These processes are often triggered by a nasty event or are required by some Board committee. Often the processes exist, but the gathered information goes into some file server or is added onto a lengthy list of previous lessons. I have done two large-scale lessons learned reviews for mega capital projects over recent years. In the first instance, the lessons learned was an extensive, but cumbersome excel spreadsheet of circa two thousand lessons. Sadly, it was just that, a spread sheet, which was filled in so the manager could tick the box. In the second case, the lessons were captured in a comprehensive document covering over a thousand pages. The common finding in both, was the issues or lessons kept repeating themselves, despite detailed information being available on previous lessons. In both these reviews, the biggest root cause emanated from a poor culture and ill-defined ways of working. The next critical step is to create a meaningful lesson learned process. This is summarised in the practical tools below. This process is only useful if lessons learned consistently changes behaviours, processes, and improves execution, on a sustainable basis. A primary root cause of lessons not being learned, is culture. Unless the culture and leadership behaviours truly onboard the teachable moments from previous lessons, then the same mistakes are likely to repeat themselves. A few key considerations for addressing culture could include: • Ensuring that the lessons learned process is seen as a critical management function • Prior to starting any new project or initiative, consideration is given to previous lessons • Leaders are deliberate in changing processes or behaviours that caused previous mistakes • Lessons learned reviews are seen as teachable moments • True root causes are fundamentally dealt with • Leaders who ignore lessons learned, face consequence management.
244 Finally, while collecting lessons is vital, the data should be turned into insights that can make a difference. Therefore, the lessons which really matter should be surfaced and changes must be made to behaviours and processes. Practical tools Lessons learned should encapsulate the following elements: • Define the issue – what was the impact • Identify the root cause – what are the facts • Conclude observations – summary of circumstances • Define lesson – what is the teachable moment • Rectification – what is the recommendation for rectifying the lesson • Implementation – changed processes or systems for improved execution Lesson learned – when behaviours and actions change.
245 EPILOGUE – PLAN A “Success means using your knowledge and experience to satisfy yourself. Significance means using your knowledge and experience to change the lives of others.” Bob Buford This book has been primarily focused on your productive life as a leader within an organisational context. I am hopeful that your time was impactful and that each of you were able to leave a meaningful legacy. A final role a leader has in an organisation is knowing when to step down. We have all observed how leaders cling to power, whether as leaders in organisations or in political positions. True wisdom and impact can be demonstrated by stepping aside so that the next generation of leaders which you have nurtured, can take over. For many leaders, their leadership roles are often a huge source of energy and purpose and letting go is hard. Obviously, if you are privileged to be in a role where you are fulfilling a greater purpose, and you are still making a significant impact, then please continue. If not, then it is time to move to plan A, where you can make an even greater impact. However, letting go of something which has been a large part of your life can be a huge disruption, and hard to do. I often hear of senior executives who after a hectic corporate life, go into retirement with no plans, other than maybe a few rounds of golf, and a bit of travel. Sadly, the number of cases of those individuals dying within a few short years is overwhelming. This is largely because they have not got a purpose after their corporate career. Bob Buford in his book Finishing Well31 talks extensively about living the second half of your life with purpose and leading a life of significance which is focused both on fulfilling your spiritual purpose, but also fundamentally about making a significant impact in the lives of others. I therefore often ask senior leaders about their plan A. Initially I was surprised at how few had a plan or had even vaguely contemplated it. Now, when I get that blank stare, I know, and I can have a fruitful discussion about their next ten or twenty years. As someone once told
246 me, we were not put on earth to sit and do nothing, although appropriate down-time is vital for body, mind, and soul. I therefore urgently encourage you to be deliberate in creating your plan A. Some practical suggestions on doing this: • Be deliberate in finding quiet time to truly reflect on what your purpose is • Write it down • Reflect on what your plan A career could be and how it can meet your purpose, be significant and positively impact others around you • Write it down • Reflect and test with trusted people in your life • Refine what you have written down • Pray over it, until you have absolute peace • At the right time, put it into action. This process can take weeks, months, or even years. That is fine. After all, you are defining what you will be doing for a decade, or two. I specifically also say, write it down. Simply thinking about it is in my experience nebulous. Only when you see the written word, does it really start to stir the heart, enabling you to find the essence of your purpose and plan A. Finally, we are all here because we have a purpose. In the absence of purpose, life can become mundane, and the will to live a meaningful life will ebb away. I heard a beautiful story from an elderly gentleman sitting around a campfire at a bush lodge, who sadly never shared his name. He said, when you retire at say sixty years of age and you are working forty hours a week, draw a line from sixty to ninety, at which time you should be “working” for two hours a week. These two hours could be serving tea in church or anything for that matter, as long as you have a purpose and a reason to get out of bed and live. Having purpose he said, is one of the secrets to a beautiful and fulfilling life. How profound! John Maxwell’s quote strongly resonates with me, “Once you’ve tasted significance, success will never satisfy.” Live life with purpose, passionately, make a significant impact, and end with your life fruitfully lived.
247 BACKGROUND TO AUTHOR’S LEADERSHIP JOURNEY As I reflect on writing about my own leadership journey, I realise that for some their season is early in life, for others it is in their later mature years, and for others somewhere in between. With over thirty-five years of experience, including circa fifteen years with Murray & Roberts and circa fifteen years with Deloitte, I realise they were all foundational to what is yet to come. I believe that my season to produce fruit is now in my second half. My school years were underwhelming both academically and in extracurricular activities. I played first team rugby, chess, and was also selected as a school prefect in my matric year, the latter being the first glimpse of my own leadership potential. My early twenties were equally underwhelming at university, although I held a variety of leadership roles, whether on university house committees or captain of sports teams. I was frankly clueless on how to lead, but I always had an interest and a desire to do so. My life changed forever in my mid-twenties when I broke my neck playing rugby and was almost paralysed. My mother’s prayers, God’s mercy, and my determination to walk again prevailed over my three year recovery. In my late twenties it began to dawn on me how fortunate I had been and a wake-up call that I needed to live life passionately. My thirties were more a reflection of how not to lead. As I now look back, I realise that my management style was dismal, and that I was lucky to get the results I did. In my mid-thirties, I was privileged to attend Wharton Business School in Philadelphia for a few weeks. The Executive Development Program I attended was a catalyst for many changes in my life and career. One of the program directors, Michael Useem, dealt with the topic of leadership and signed a book for me with the words, “With best wishes for those leadership moments of your own.” This program led me to leave a CFO corporate role for the first time and venture into management consulting and private equity.
248 During the early 2000’s I supported the creation of a new mining platform in Murray & Roberts, delisting a mining business, and restructuring the legacy businesses. This required many organisational changes, numerous critical people moments and a variety of process and systems changes. I was very blessed to work with Henry Laas, who was the Managing Director of the platform at the time, and now CEO of Murray & Roberts. I believe that he was the first leader to see my true potential and do something to unlock that potential. This involved working with an executive coach, Godfrey O’Flaherty, who started steering me onto a new people journey. Being a director on the Gautrain Rapid Rail civils project was another step-change in developing insights into leadership, both from a people point of view, but also a fundamental crash course in organisational culture. Besides being an unbelievable project to work on, it proved to be a treasure trove of leadership insights. I will always fondly remember the project, and the mega project employee engagement initiatives I delivered with the HR team. Post Gautrain, I spent a few more years in the construction industry. During this time, I worked under Luc Jacobs, who was open to exploring leadership, team effectiveness and the value of culture. Together we experimented and grew. Luc also introduced me to my second executive coach, Elana Godley. Her passion for developing others and finding their potential was life-changing, and it made a significant impact on who I was to become. Her most important message to me was, “Remember to be your authentic self.” I returned to management consulting in 2014 and became exposed to the Deloitte CFO Transition Labs early on. I really took to it and thoroughly enjoyed facilitating those leadership interventions. This proved to ignite the next spark in my own leadership journey. Over the next few years, I was privileged to run many C-suite leadership interventions and ended up facilitating leadership discussions across the C-Suite, Boards, and senior management teams. Deloitte also gave me the opportunity to change careers from finance to human capital and leadership services. During this time, I facilitated leadership sessions with dozens of blue chip organisations across Africa and in Europe and the United States, giving me rich insights to leadership around the world. It also allowed me to learn from the truly heart-warming stories of many great leaders.
249 Background to author’s leadership journey I subsequently joined MAC Consulting to focus on building a unique leadership business. In recent years, I have also prayed extensively about my greater purpose in life. God has clearly shown me in countless ways, that my purpose is to develop the leaders of the future. Whilst I was never destined to become the CEO of a large business myself, God has equipped me over many years to the point where I am able to fulfil my purpose of leadership development and focus on leadership and executive effectiveness. I am encouraged and motivated to know that for each leader I can influence in a positive developmental way, that many more people will be indirectly impacted. Living my God-given purpose works for me, and ensures I wake up each day ready to make a difference. I could never have imagined this leadership journey, but I would not trade it for anything. May God steer you in your own impactful leadership journey.
250 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to take this opportunity to thank and show gratitude to those who helped make this book a reality. My wife Esmé, and sons Calvin and Bradley, for their unwavering support of my writing. Readers of my previous fiction novels, who gave me the encouragement to keep writing. A special thank you to my beta readers: Fortune Gamanya, Trisha Naicker, Jolandi Yeates, Mike Seymour, Carel Anthonissen and Richard Longe. Each of you brought unique insights, constructive challenge, and honest feedback. Thank you for your time. A huge thank you and shout-out to my editor, Genevieve de Carcenac for her commitment to another book, her guidance, shaping my writing style, the richness of her inputs and insightful amendments. As always, a huge thank you and appreciation for your time. You have a beautiful gift. God for my talent.
251 Note from editor NOTE FROM EDITOR In this book, Dave van der Merwe has managed to consolidate his considerable leadership experience into a practical and reflective guide. The author has not only gained this rich experience first-hand, but also through innumerable hours of focused conversations with many different leaders – some good, and some less so, but all having left him with memorable learning moments. Dave has included many personal anecdotes, which not only add richness and relatability, but bring concepts he discusses to life. Reading this book has challenged some of my personal thoughts on leadership. I’ve enjoyed forming my own learnings as Dave has shared his. In my roles as team leader and coach, Dave’s thoughts on personal values and authenticity particularly resonated with me. He offers some practical advice on how authentic leaders can “show up” to those they interact with. Furthermore, this well-structured and practical guide provides the reader with plenty of reminders to contemplate how their responses to the content could influence their day-to-day behaviour, and what changes they should make as a result. Dave’s thought-provoking learnings and reflections have been distilled into a well-structured guide for leaders at all levels, irrespective of how far they might have already progressed along their own leadership journeys. Although focused largely on business leaders, this book is recommended to anyone wishing to enhance or reflect on how they frame what effective leadership means to them, and how to become such leaders themselves. Genevieve de Carcenac
252 REFERENCES Buford, B. (2004). Finishing Well: The Adventure of Life Beyond Halftime. California: Zondervan. Buford, B. (2014). Drucker & Me: How Peter Drucker and a Texas Entrepreneur Conspired to Change the World. Franklin, US: Worthy Publishing. Collins, J. (2001). Good to great. London: Random House Business Books. Covey, S.R. (1989). The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change. New York: Free Press. Covey, S.R. (2003). Principle Centered Leadership. New York: Free Press. Coyle, D. (2018). The Culture Code: The Secrets of Highly Successful Groups. London, UK: Penguin Random House. Gibbs, G. (1988). Learning by Doing: A Guide to Teaching and Learning Methods. Oxford Polytechnic, Oxford: Further Educational Unit. Hagel, J. & Wooll, M. (2019). What is Work. Deloitte Review, 24. Available from: https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/insights/us/articles/5113_DR24_ What-is-work/DI_DR24_What-is-work.pdf Kline, N. (1999). Time to Think: Listening to Ignite the Human Mind. London: Cassel Illustrated. Lencioni, P. (2002). The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Maxwell, J. (n.d.). John Maxwell Quotes: Inspirational Words of Wisdom. Available from: www.wow4u.com/integrityquotes Maxwell, J.C. (2010). Everyone Communicates, Few Connect: What the Most Effective People Do Differently. Nashville, Tennessee: Thomas Nelson. Ready, D.A. (2019). Why Great Leaders Focus on Mastering Relationships: Great leaders are distinguished by their ability to master personal relationships. Available from: https://sloanreview.mit.edu/article/why-great-leadersfocus-on-mastering-relationships/ Schmidt, E., Rosenberg, J. & Eagle, A. (2019). Trillion Dollar Coach: Leadership Handbook of Silicon Valley’s Bill Campbell. London: John Murray Publishers. Schwartz, J. with Riss, S. (2021) Work Disrupted: Opportunity, Resilience, and Growth in the Accelerated Future of Work. Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons Inc. Sinek, S. (2009). Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action. New York: Penguin Books.
253 References Slap, S. (2010). Bury My Heart at Conference Room B: The Unbeatable Impact of Truly Committed Managers. New York: Penguin Random House. ThoughtLeaders, LLC. (2019). Start Building Your Leadership Fitness Today. Available from: www.thoughtleadersllc.com/2019/12/start-building-yourleadership-fitness-today/ Tolle, E. (1999). The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment. Vancouver, Canada: Namaste Publishing. Warren, R. (2002). The Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here For. California: Zondervan. Zander, R.S., & Zander, B. (2002). The Art of Possibility: Transforming Professional and Personal Life. New York: Penguin Books, 2000 Zenger, J.H. & Folkman J.R. (2009). The Extraordinary Leader: Turning Good Managers into Great Leaders. New York: McGraw Hill.
254 ENDNOTES 1 Buford, B. (2014). Drucker & Me: How Peter Drucker and a Texas Entrepreneur Conspired to Change the World. Franklin, US: Worthy Publishing. 2 Tolle, E. (1999). The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment. Vancouver, Canada: Namaste Publishing. 3 Covey, S.R. (2003). Principle Centered Leadership. New York: Free Press. 4 Slap, S. (2010). Bury My Heart at Conference Room B: The Unbeatable Impact of Truly Committed Managers. New York: Penguin Random House. 5 Warren, R. (2002). The Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here For. California: Zondervan. 6 Maxwell, J. (n.d.). John Maxwell Quotes: Inspirational Words of Wisdom. Available from: www.wow4u.com/integrityquotes 7 Maxwell, J.C. (2010). Everyone Communicates, Few Connect: What the Most Effective People Do Differently. Nashville, Tennessee: Thomas Nelson. 8 Ibid. 9 Covey, S.R. (1989). The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change. New York: Free Press. 10 Kline, N. (1999). Time to Think: Listening to Ignite the Human Mind. London: Cassel Illustrated. 11 Schmidt, E., Rosenberg, J. & Eagle, A. (2019). Trillion Dollar Coach: Leadership Handbook of Silicon Valley’s Bill Campbell. London: John Murray Publishers. 12 Gibbs, G. (1988). Learning by Doing: A Guide to Teaching and Learning Methods. Oxford Polytechnic, Oxford: Further Educational Unit. 13 Covey, S.R. (1989). The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change. New York: Free Press. 14 Kline, 1999. 15 Covey, 1989. 16 ThoughtLeaders, LLC. (2019). Start Building Your Leadership Fitness Today. Available from: www.thoughtleadersllc.com/2019/12/start-building-yourleadership-fitness-today/ 17 Coyle, D. (2018). The Culture Code: The Secrets of Highly Successful Groups. London, UK: Penguin Random House. 18 Maxwell, 2010. 19 Sinek, S. (2009). Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action. New York: Penguin Books. 20 Lencioni, P. (2002). The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
255 Endnotes 21 Schwartz, J. with Riss, S. (2021) Work Disrupted: Opportunity, Resilience, and Growth in the Accelerated Future of Work. Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons Inc. 22 Zenger, J.H. & Folkman J.R. (2009). The Extraordinary Leader: Turning Good Managers into Great Leaders. New York: McGraw Hill. 23 Schwartz with Riss, 2021. 24 Ready, D.A. (2019). Why Great Leaders Focus on Mastering Relationships: Great leaders are distinguished by their ability to master personal relationships. Available from: https://sloanreview.mit.edu/article/why-greatleaders-focus-on-mastering-relationships/ 25 Zander, R.S., & Zander, B. (2002). The Art of Possibility: Transforming Professional and Personal Life. New York: Penguin Books, 2000 26 Maxwell, 2010. 27 Collins, J. (2001). Good to great. London: Random House Business Books. 28 Kline, 1999. 29 Hagel, J. & Wooll, M. (2019). What is Work. Deloitte Review, 24. Available from: https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/insights/us/articles/5113_ DR24_What-is-work/DI_DR24_What-is-work.pdf 30 Ibid. 31 Buford, B. (2004). Finishing Well: The Adventure of Life Beyond Halftime. California: Zondervan.
256 INDEX A achieve in life or career, 130, 148 appropriate leadership behaviours, 67, 72, 74 articulate the team dynamics, 88, 95 B balanced life, 1–2, 4–5 build others up, 130, 141–143 building leadership fitness, 43 C challenge the status quo, 67, 76, 228 chosen outcomes, 152, 158 collaborating and focusing, 191, 209 collaborative working environment, 88, 102–103 constantly curious, 43, 54–55 courageous conversations, 67, 76–79 create opportunities, 193, 209, 230, 237 creating a collaborative working environment, 88, 102–103 creating predictability, 191 creating shared value, 171 curiosity, innovation, and experiential learning, 110, 120–122 D destroy value, 60, 113, 171, 176–177, 184, 186, 188 drive effectiveness, 212, 221 driving effective execution, 212–213 driving team effectiveness, 88 E effective decision-making, 67, 80, 202 effective meetings, 212, 227–229 effective recognition for individual or team success, 88, 106 empathetic to others, 1, 18 employee engagement, 67, 71, 84–86, 214, 221 ensure transparency, 191, 201 F focus on as a leader, 43, 49–50 foster relationships, 130, 137, 140 fostering relationships, 130 G gaining perspective, 2, 22 grow people’s passion and strengths, 110, 116 I improved execution, 230, 242, 244 influencer, 22, 32–35 K key stakeholders, 100, 130, 132–133 L lead a life of integrity, 1, 14 lead through a crisis, 43, 58 leadership fitness, 43, 61 leadership style, 22, 24–25, 64, 72–73, 118, 121, 137–138, 203, 207
257 Index learning and seeking, 43, 54 life and work, 1, 10 living a balanced life, 1–2, 4 M make the community a better place, 130, 141 making strategic choices, 152 managing controllable risk, 230, 240 meaningful work, 100, 212, 221–223 N new ways of doing things, 43, 54 O optimal decisions, 191, 197 organisational values, 67, 69 organisation’s value proposition, 152, 161 P people’s full potential, 110, 112 people’s passion and strengths, 110, 116 performance management, 106, 112, 116, 118, 191, 195, 205–207 powerful questions, 21, 33, 48, 105, 122, 191, 193–196 purpose and aspirations, 152, 154, 156–158 purpose-led, in life and work, 1, 10 Q quality thinking time, 22, 36–38, 46, 48, 59, 194, 210, 229 R reflecting on self, 1 resilient, 43, 58, 60–61, 76, 233 resource allocation principles, 82, 152, 164 risk and opportunity, 215 risk mitigation is actionable, 230, 235 robust decision-making processes, 191, 197 S servant leadership, 130, 137–140 setting the tone, 67 shared purpose, 88, 90–94, 154, 156 solve real business challenges, 191, 209 sounding board, 28, 43, 63, 65 stakeholders, 60, 63, 91, 93, 128, 130, 132–134, 137–139, 152, 154–155, 169, 171, 173–175, 184–185 strategic choices, 64, 133, 152, 158– 160, 167–168, 171, 173–176 strategic intent and tactical execution, 212 strategic narrative, 52, 152, 159, 168, 190 sustainable value creation, 171, 173, 184, 190 T talent for future capabilities, 110, 123 talent potential, 110, 142, 185, 187 team effectiveness, 88, 96 teams’ discretionary energy, 88 think tank, 43, 63, 65 top five controllable risks, 230, 233 top five value drivers, 171 top five value inhibitors, 171 top priorities, 43, 45 U unfiltered information, 191, 201 unlock people’s full potential, 110, 112
258 unlocking talent potential, 110, 142, 187 unshakable values, 1, 6 V value chain execution effectiveness, 212 value of coaching, 22, 28 W work colleagues, 22, 130, 145–146
About the author Dave van der Merwe is qualified as a Chartered Accountant and works in the management consulting industry. His passion is unlocking leadership potential and driving executive effectiveness. He has extensive experience, strong leadership skills, strategic thinking capacity, execution capability and the ability to create insights by drawing on his diverse experience. He has a passion for unlocking value and has been influential in the turnaround of several businesses. Dave is also the self-published author of three fiction novels, under the name David Vander. YOUR LEADERSHIP FOOTPRINT How will you be remembered? Leadership seems deceptively simple to explain, yet in its essence, it is multifaceted and complex. This practical handbook for leaders is structured around a series of key themes and thought provoking reflective questions. The key themes cover: • Self-Awareness as a leader • Leading Change and Talent • Thinking Strategically and Stakeholders • Enabling Execution and Driving Results Reflective questions are one thing, but being deliberate and intentional about taking action could be the critical trigger required to drive a paradigm shift in your leadership journey. Selected observations on leadership impact and executive effectiveness from the insights to the reflective questions: • Living a balanced life • Your plan for significance • The importance of always being authentic and human • How you show up as a leader • Creating quality thinking time • Asking powerful questions • Being deliberate, intentional, and taking action • Focusing on what really matters and owning the narrative • Unlocking the potential and discretionary energy of others • Being an enabler for the whole ecosystem to flourish • Working on the business, versus working in the business, and knowing when to be where.